Penske Media acquires remaining Vox Media brands and forms PMX subsidiary
Penske Media has bought the remaining Vox Media brands: The Verge, Eater, SB Nation and POPSUGAR. They fold into a new Penske subsidiary, PMX, alongside Variety, Rolling Stone and Billboard. The deal follows James Murdoch's purchase of New York magazine and Vox.com last month.
Penske Media Corporation has acquired the remaining brands of Vox Media, consolidating a large share of US digital publishing under one owner. The deal brings The Verge, Eater, SB Nation, POPSUGAR, Thrillist, The Dodo and Vox Studios into Penske's portfolio. These were the titles left after James Murdoch's Lupa Systems bought New York magazine, Vox.com and the Vox Media Podcast Network last month. To house the combined operation, Penske is creating a new subsidiary called PMX. It folds the newly acquired brands together with Penske's existing titles, a list that includes Variety, Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, WWD, Deadline, Sportico, IndieWire and ARTnews. Ryan Pauley will serve as president of PMX, reporting to Penske chairman and chief executive Jay Penske and company president Craig Perreault. The result is one of the largest digital media publishers by reach, spanning entertainment, sports, fashion, technology and food coverage and producing hundreds of live events each year. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. For an industry that has spent years fragmenting under pressure from platforms and shifting ad budgets, the deal marks a sharp move toward consolidation, with two buyers, Penske and Murdoch, dividing up what was once one of the most prominent independent digital media groups.